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Abiquiu Lake to close vehicle access to swim beach and paddle boat launch
Abiquiu Lake in July 2020. Officials are closing vehicle access to the swim beach and paddle boat ramp amid a ranger shortage and hiring freeze.
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Officials say visitors will have to hoof it to go swimming or launch paddle boats at Abiquiu Lake this summer out of caution amid a ranger shortage and federal hiring freeze.
Lisa Lockyear, a spokesperson with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said vehicle access to the lake’s Swim Beach, Paddle Craft Launch Area and two group shelters will be closed from April 1 until Oct. 15.
Despite the closures, she said, visitors will be able to park at the top of the hill before the gate and “walk down into the recreation area” of the lake, which is northwest of Española.
Lockyear said they are currently down three park rangers at Abiquiu and, due to the hiring freeze, cannot backfill positions or hire more rangers. For that reason, she said they are being “extra cautious to avoid getting to the point where the rangers would be unable to ensure public safety.”
Lockyear said the Corp of Engineers is closing vehicle access only at Abiquiu, one of New Mexico’s most popular lakes with a visually stunning backdrop that inspired many of the landscapes of painter Georgia O’Keeffe.
“We don’t want to stretch our park rangers to where they are limited in their ability,” she said of the closure.
